On Thursday afternoon, the San Antonio Spurs announced that second-year superstar Victor Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the regular season due to deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, which is a crushing blow for a Spurs team that recently traded for De'Aaron Fox, and at most sportsbooks, is a devastating loss for any bettors that had wagered on Wemby to win Defensive Player of the Year.
However, fortunately for bettors at Fanatics, the book has elected to honor its "Fair Play" rule in this situation. On a daily basis, Fair Play guarantees that Fanatics will refund prop bets if you take the Over and a player gets injured early in a game (in the first quarter for NBA). That includes straight prop bets, parlays, and same game parlays (the voided leg will just drop out of the parlay, and the rest of the parlay will stand).
In Wembanyama's case, Defensive Player of the Year isn't exactly a prop bet, and it certainly isn't the first quarter of the season anymore. But for all intents and purposes, Wemby pretty much had the award locked up, and the only thing preventing him from winning is an injury, which is the reason the Fair Play rule was created. So, Fanatics has been kind enough to extend the rule to this situation.
Fanatics Sportsbook Honors Bets Following Wembanyama Injury
Fair is Fair. 🤝 With Wemby out for the season, we're paying out all DPOY bets as a WIN and refunding all Parlay wagers, courtesy of Fair Play. pic.twitter.com/ReEsVgCJIB
— Fanatics Sportsbook (@FanaticsBook) February 21, 2025
Prior to the announcement of Wembanyama's season-ending injury, the Spurs' 7-footer was listed as a -2500 favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year at 3.8 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, pacing the field by a distant margin with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Evan Mobley in the rearview at +3000.
However, in order to qualify for NBA awards, players must play 65 regular season games, and Wembanyama has only played 46 so far this season. So, assuming that he actually goes on to miss the rest of the season, it appears Wemby won't be eligible to win Defensive Player of the Year, as the oddsmakers now list Jackson Jr. (-115) and Mobley (+150) as clear cut favorites to take home this year's honors.
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Odds
Odds at Fanatics as of Friday, Feb. 21 at 9 a.m. ET
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies) -115
- Evan Mobley (Cavaliers) +150
- Lu Dort (Thunder) +1000
- Dyson Daniels (Hawks) +1800
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) +3000
- Ivica Zubac (Clippers) +3500
- Jalen Williams (Thunder) +4500
- Amen Thompson (Rockets) +4500
- Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves) +5000
